Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to containers, and, in particular, to a flexible disposable bucket-like container.
Description of the Related Art
Plastic buckets of various shapes and sizes are commonly used all over the world. The field of use of these buckets is also quite broad from preparing concrete mixtures to storing chemicals. The most commonly used buckets are made in 1, 2 and 5 gallon sizes.
The main problem with the conventional bucket is their cost and utilization (recycling). Often, such expensive buckets are only used once, because they cannot be effectively cleaned from the mixture that they store, like paint or concrete. Therefore, the bucket needs to be disposed. However, proper disposal of the plastic buckets is also costly, since it requires for the plastic material of the buckets to be clean in order to have it melted (i.e., recycled).
The rigidity of the conventional plastic buckets also increases the disposal costs. For example, it requires a large area or a container for collecting a required minimal number of buckets for disposal. Collecting and transporting a large number of buckets to a cleaning and melting suite can also be very expensive. Cleaning and melting/recycling of the buckets might be not environmentally friendly as well.
In order to use the plastic buckets longer, disposable inserts (or bucket liners) had been introduced. However, the disposable inserts are only slightly less expensive than the buckets. Also, the inserts cannot be used without the bucket, as they lack the required characteristics (i.e., strength, stiffness and durability) for carrying the material in the insert without the bucket.
Accordingly, there is a need for light, flexible easily disposable buckets that provide all of the characteristics of the conventional rigid buckets.